The present invention is directed generally to reserve magazine holders for a firearm, and specifically to an ambidextrous reserve ammunition magazine holder.
Many firearms use detachable ammunition cartridge magazines that can be quickly removed when empty and replaced with a full magazine. This is desirable not only to rapidly reload the firearm when the active magazine is depleted, but also to change to a different ammunition type by replacing the magazine cartridge as the target requires (armor piercing, tracer, etc). Although detachable magazine firearms are employed in a wide variety of applications, it is generally beneficial to minimize the time required to remove the empty magazine and replace it with the full magazine. Advantageously, certain firearms allow magazine replacement without releasing the grip of the firing hand, while the free hand simultaneously reaches for the replacement magazine. Ideally, the spare or reserve magazine should be readily available and easily inserted into the firearm.
Spare magazines can be carried in one or more pouches on the firearm operator""s body, as is the practice of military personnel who carry these firearms full time as part of their mission. In other situations, such as police work or home defense, the firearm is stored in a secure location, the police cruiser for example, and retrieved only in emergency situations. However, during such emergency conditions, the need to grab both the firearm and a spare magazine significantly increases response time, and belting or slinging on a spare magazine carrier while holding and controlling a firearm is clumsy, time consuming, and possibly dangerous.
Firearms for use in law enforcement are often stored in close fitting, lockable weapons cases that lack sufficient space for bulky add-on magazines carriers or other firearm accessories. Home defense firearms are also stored in compact locations to avoid notice by the casual observer. Storage of spare magazines in such enclosures is not ideal and in some situations may not be practical.
Certain firearm designs provide for the storage of a spare magazine on the firearm. The advantages of a spare magazine carrier that is attached to the firearm, but does not increase that firearm bulk, are apparent. See for example the following patents issued to Johnson (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,484,404; 4,628,627 and 5,636,465) and Musgrave (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,100,694 and 4,115,943). In the Johnson and Musgrave patents, the spare magazine is carried in an add-on well affixed to the firearm, increasing the bulk of the firearm, even when the spare magazine is absent from the well. Note further that the magazine carrier add-on well disclosed by Johnson, and also utilized in commercial products, is positioned on one side of the firearm, limiting its utility for left handed shooters. Claridge (U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,613) discloses a spare magazine carried in a low profile orientation relative to the firearm, but removal of the magazine latch is a very slow and awkward process.
A firearm having a buttstock constructed according to the teachings of the present invention includes a well within the buttstock for storing a spare magazine. A rotatable latch affixed to opposing surfaces of the buttstock releasably holds the spare magazine within the well.